Compilation penned by police officers hopes to shed light on where domestic violence laws fall short

Insp. Lee Jong-seok has worked as a local police officer for 27 years, and has responded to enough domestic and dating violence cases to know exactly where the system falls short — and how law leaves officers with no room to act.

Insp. Lee Jong-seok, who took part in writing the book ″We Are Here,″ speaks during an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo at a cafe in Mapo District, western Seoul, on Dec. 16. [KIM SEONG-RYONG]

Inspector Lee Jong-seok has worked as a local police officer for 27 years. He’s responded to enough domestic and dating violence cases to know exactly where the system falls short — and how helpless officers often are when the law leaves them with no room to act.

“There’s no clear law that applies to dating violence, so we’re stuck patching things together using either the de facto marriage clause under the Domestic Violence Act or the anti-stalking law,” Lee said in an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo on Dec. 16 in western Seoul.

Just last week, he rushed to a scene after a woman called to report that she had been assaulted by her boyfriend. It was her 10th report of dating violence in a year. But officers were unable to take any coercive measures against the suspect. Under the Stalking Punishment Act, such measures can only be taken if the behavior is continuous or repeated. In this case, the woman was the same, but the suspects were almost always different men.

The situation, according to Lee, is a glaring example of just how inadequate Korea’s legal system is when it comes to addressing dating violence. “All we can do is try to hold things together with makeshift solutions,” he said.

Despite growing concern, not a single bill addressing dating violence has passed Korea’s National Assembly in the past decade. According to a report published Dec. 1 by the Korean Women’s Development Institute, about one in five women — 19.2 percent — said they had experienced at least one instance of violence in an intimate relationship.

To help shine a light on the issue, Insp. Lee recently contributed a personal essay to the police agency’s new collection of field accounts, “We Are Here” (translated). The book, published Tuesday, compiles 27 first-person accounts from officers in the Women and Youth Affairs Division. Lee, who also supports three children from low-income families, said he submitted his essay hoping that even the royalties could help him support more children in the future.

″We Are Here,″ a compilation of 27 first-person accounts from police officers in the Women and Youth Affairs Division [KOREAN NATIONAL POLICE AGENCY]

Lee is not alone in calling for legal reform. Sgt. Yang Chang-mo, who has spent nearly a decade at a neighborhood precinct in Seoul’s Yongsan District, also contributed to the book. He has witnessed the immediate dangers of relationship-based crimes up close — including a case last year where a woman narrowly escaped sexual assault by faking a phone call to a family member, which was actually a 112 call.

“Oppa, it’s me. I think I’ll be late,” she said. The call handler caught a man’s voice in the background, flagged it, and officers were dispatched immediately.

But even with quick thinking and a fast response, there’s a limit to how far police can intervene. “Victims are often psychologically controlled by the perpetrator, so it’s dangerous to make snap decisions at the scene based solely on statements,” Yang said. “There needs to be enough time to connect victims with support systems so real action can be taken.”

The legal ambiguity also creates risk for the officers themselves. Lee recalled responding to a domestic violence call, where a father hit his son in front of him. “I tried to intervene, but ended up being accused of excessive force and had to stand trial,” he said. “Since then, I have to admit, I hesitate.”

Sgt. Yang Chang-mo, who took part in writing the book ″We Are Here,″ speaks during an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo at a cafe in Mapo District, western Seoul, on Dec. 16. [KIM SEONG-RYONG]

Even within the police force, responsibility for dating violence has long been fragmented. “When we brought in suspects for dating violence, sometimes the case would go to the criminal division, and other times it went to the women and youth division,” Yang said. Korea doesn’t even maintain official statistics on dating-related deaths or injuries — cases are buried in broader categories like assault and have to be manually sorted to analyze them.

In a system that often leaves front line officers without support, Insp. Lee ended his essay with a plea for reflection.

“Rather than creating and improving alternatives to solve fundamental problems, we’re often too quick to assign blame, then just forget the issue. We must not grow too accustomed to this familiarity. So I dare to hope: that society, citizens and the police do not grow accustomed to being used to things.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom. BY LEE AH-MI [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]